Wireless devices have evolved to become smart devices or also called smartphones or tablet and can now handle voice and data directly or though downloaded software Apps. Such wireless devices (smartphones and tablets) have typically multiple hardware radio allowing the wireless device to connect to the Internet over different wireless networks, such as through mobile networks (WCDMA, PCS, GSM, GPRS, 2G, 3G, 4G, LTE, etc.), through WiFi (wireless fidelity) as known by end-users or as referred to by the technically skilled as Wi-Fi (wireless fidelity) and through short-range wireless interconnection, e.g., BLUETOOTH. In some wireless devices, such as some lower end tablets, where the only hardware radio connection available to connect to the Internet is only through Wi-Fi or through BLUETOOTH.
In more recent times wireless devices (smartphones and tablets) also have a so called “personal hotspot” feature which then converts the wireless device that shares connection to the mobile network Internet through its Wi-Fi or BLUETOOTH radio with other wireless devices that are allowed to connect to it.
The latest wireless devices variant of previous mentioned smartphones or tablet with a “personal hotspot” feature have resulted in several manufacturers to release so called MiFi-devices, which are wireless devices that have only function, namely to act always as a “personal hotspot”. These MiFi devices typically allow 5 or more different wireless devices to connect to the MiFi device through Wi-Fi and then to the Internet through the MiFi Internet connection to a mobile network, typically requiring a valid SIM (subscriber identity module) in the MiFi device.
Any such wireless device that connects to a mobile network to the Internet requires a valid subscription and depending on the mobile network operator also require a valid SIM.
All wireless devices with a valid SIM connect to the HLR of the mobile network operator when in the coverage area serviced by their home mobile network operator but connects to a VLR when in the coverage area not serviced by their home mobile network operator, this last typically when roaming.
Competition driven mainly by innovations and often protected by patents which are licensed to third parties rather than by regulation have driven mobile network operators to provide to their users bundles with unlimited calls and text messages and a reasonable amount of megabytes of data to connect to the Internet in the same bundle within the area(s) where the mobile network operator provides radio coverage service to its users. Some mobile network operators provide also data only bundles for use in the coverage area (country) where it provides radio coverage to its users yet still high data usage prices when roaming abroad or when users connects to the Internet through a mobile network operator servicing such coverage area not serviced directly by the home mobile network operator of the SIM of the end user.
Mobile network operators and mobile virtual network operators make their profit typically on user breakage when providing bundle pricing for in-country unlimited calls, text including a reasonable amount of data (500 MB, 1 GB, 5 GB, etc. where MB is megabyte and GB is gigabyte) to connect to the Internet or a data only bundle to connect to the Internet. Breakage means that the end-user in order not to pay extra much higher prices per MB over and above his data bundle(s) allowance.
In the past years the amount of data allowance per bundle has been increasing consistently and is expected to increase in the future, for example where for a given bundle cost the amount of data allowance per month was a 2 years ago 500 Mb, it increased for the same cost to around 1 GB a year ago and is currently close to becoming for the same cost a monthly data allowance of 3 GB. In practice although mobile data usage by end-users has increased it has not increased in the same amount that mobile network operators are increasing the monthly data allowance year on year for the same price year on year user get a lot more data allowance. Typically an wireless device (smartphone and tablet) end-user uses quite a lot less then the maximum data amount allowance of that month and that unused monthly data is what is known as breakage is likely to increase in the future.
The biggest breakage is achieved by mobile network operators when a wireless device user is roaming or in a different country connected to a different mobile network operator because the data bundle allowance in roaming is very small or in most cases only applies to data usage for connecting to the Internet only on his home country when connected to the end-user's wireless device SIM home country connected to its home mobile network operator.
When looking at the prior art, current wireless devices (smartphones and tablets) with the “personal hotspot” features and a valid SIM or “MiFi” devices with a valid SIM, do not resolve the high Internet data cost to end-users when roaming or the high data cost over and above the data bundle allowance. The prior art does also not allow end-users access to the Internet when such end-user with a wireless device has no SIM credit (typically when prepay) or with a valid SIM but without any further mobile data allowance to allow such wireless device end-user to continue using the Internet without requiring to top up his mobile network operator SIM credit nor without requiring an additional MiFi device with an additional SIM with valid credit for data allowance.
Attempts have been made by companies such as Apple, Samsung, Huawei, and many other smartphones and tablets manufacturers providing embedded in their wireless hardware devices previous mentioned feature called “personal hotspot” as a software setting such that the wireless device becomes a “hotspot” performing the same function as a “MiFi” device. The end-user can activate or deactivate such “personal hotspot” function whereby the wireless device automatically disconnects itself from any data connection to a Wi-Fi or short-range wireless interconnection such as a BLUETOOTH network and establishes instead a data connection to the mobile network operator associated with the valid SIM inside the wireless device. Then the wireless device with the “personal hotspot” function activated allows other different to the previous authorised different wireless devices with a Wi-Fi or BLUETOOTH radio to connect to the Internet through Wi-Fi or BLUETOOTH of the wireless device with the “personal hotspot” function activated.
Companies such as Huawei, Alcatel and many other MiFi manufacturers provide a wireless device that is cheaper than a typical smartphone or tablet where the only function is to provide a permanent “personal hotspot” and such devices are commonly known as MiFi devices. Such MiFi devices do not require the end-user to activate or deactivate the “personal hotspot” as it's the only permanent function the MiFi device is designed to provide subject to having a valid SIM in the MiFi device. The fact that such MiFi device requires a valid SIM means in most if not all cases that end-users require at least two devices, their most commonly used smartphone or tablet plus an extra device such as the MiFi device. The shortcomings of the prior art when using a MiFi device are the same as when using a wireless device, because both require a valid SIM and thus both do not resolve the main issues listed previously, of using excess monthly data bundle allowance nor having access to the Internet when no data credit on the SIM of the MiFi nor the credit on the SIM of the smartphone or tablet.
Moreover certain tablet models from Apple, Samsung and other manufacturers do not have a SIM and thus such users with such tablet without a wireless device or MiFi with a valid SIM or a SIM without data credit cannot connect to the Internet when not at his home or office Wi-Fi or has to find a public free hotspot.
Probably one of the most successful attempts to address partially the shortcomings of the prior art was by Mr Martin Varsaysky, who according the website at the URL en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Martin_Varsaysky, extraction of 20 Jan. 2015 “launched the company FON in Madrid at the end of 2005, which provides Wi-Fi services using user-generated infrastructure. Fon is backed by investors GOOGLE, SKYPE, Index Ventures and SEQUOIA CAPITAL. In 2012, the network reached over 7 million hotspots in several countries.”
As extracted on 20 Jan. 2015 from the FON official website at the URL corp.fon.com/en, “Fon is your Global Wi-Fi Network. It's built by people just like you. Fon members share a bit of their home Wi-Fi, and in turn get free access at millions of other Fon hotspots worldwide. Joining is easy. All you have to do is buy a Fon Wi-Fi router and plug it into your broadband connection. No monthly fee! Or, if you live in a country where Fon has a Telco partner, just sign up with them to become a member.” “Your global Wi-Fi Network. Join Fon and get free access to 14,136,008 Fon spots. Share a little Wi-Fi and roam the world for free.”
Although the prior art by FON has grown to more than 14 million Wi-Fi hot-spots worldwide, it must be noted that such hotspots are fixed Wi-Fi hotspots mostly provided by private homes or small business through individuals or business having to purchase a Wi-Fi router hardware device connected to their fixed line Internet (ADSL, DSL fibre, etc.). In areas of high user concentration such as cities where high-rise apartments are common such Wi-Fi routers coverage provided vertically is of little or no use to most end-users. Furthermore the penetration of mobile subscribers has outperformed by far the fixed line subscriptions and thus the coverage footprint by those FON subscribed Wi-Fi routers can only provide a very small radio coverage footprint with their Wi-Fi routers even if 100% of all fixed line users would purchase a Wi-Fi router and subscribe to Fon in comparison to the more than 7 Billion mobile subscriber devices that could provide Wi-Fi and/or BLUETOOTH radio coverage globally with a foot print multiple times bigger.
A further shortcoming of the FON system, apart from the fact that users who subscribe to Fon has to purchase an additional hardware device Wi-Fi router and have a fixed Internet connection, is the fact that the FON Wi-Fi routers have to be replaced in time whilst the current invention does not require any additional hardware to be purchased at all by user who wish to subscribe or share the benefits of this invention.
Also the fact that the FON hotspots are mostly indoors Wi-Fi routers connected to fixed line Internet in people's homes renders to coverage area for actual use by end-users very limited when comparing to the sheer amount of mobile smartphone users to find other smartphone users is the proximity is extremely high simply by the high amount of penetration of mobile subscriptions.
A feature of the FON system, that is a benefit as much as it is a shortcoming is the fact that the Fon system is strictly based on fixed Wi-Fi router devices located at people's homes and small offices mainly, which makes their geographical deployment extremely difficult to be where there are mostly needed, namely wherever a high concentration of Wi-Fi enabled wireless devices (such as smartphones and tablets) are at given times.
A more recent attempt to resolve some of the shortcomings of the previously explained prior art, was made by Burcham, et al. (Burcham) through U.S. Pat. No. 8,644,255 of February 2014 with the following patent identification: Assignee: Sprint Communications Company L.P. (overland Park, Kans.), Family ID: 50001705, application Ser. No. 13/070,607, Filed: Mar. 24, 2011, and any such References Cited by Burcham.
Burcham's prior art titled “Wireless device access to communication services through another wireless device” describes the patent novelty in his abstract as follows: Quote “A method of operating a communication system is disclosed which includes, in a wireless communication device, transferring a wireless beacon signal and responsively receiving a wireless access request from a user device, determining if a user identifier received with the wireless access request has usage credits in a data structure, exchanging wireless signals with the user device and with a wireless communication network based on the usage credits to provide a wireless communication service to the user device, and decrementing the usage credits for the user identifier in the data structure. The method also includes wirelessly transferring usage credit updates for receipt in a master data structure.” Unquote.
Burcham's prior art further describes the patent novelty in his Claim 1 as follows: “1. A method of operating a communication system, the method comprising: in a first user device, transferring a wireless beacon signal and responsively receiving a first wireless access request from a second user device indicating a user identifier, processing the user identifier in a first data structure to determine if the user identifier has usage credits, and if the user identifier has the usage credits, exchanging wireless signals, through the first user device, with the second user device and with a wireless communication network to provide a wireless communication service to the second user device, decrementing the usage credits in the first data structure for the user identifier, and wirelessly transferring first data structure updates; in a control server, receiving and processing the first data structure updates to update a master data structure; in a third user device, transferring the wireless beacon signal and responsively receiving a second wireless access request from the second user device indicating the user identifier, processing the user identifier in a second data structure to determine if the user identifier has the usage credits, and if the user identifier does not have the usage credits, transferring a usage request indicating the user identifier; in the control server, receiving and processing the usage request indicating the user identifier against the master data structure to generate and transfer an update message for the second data structure; in the third user device, receiving and processing the update message for the second data structure to update the second data structure, processing the user identifier against the second data structure to determine if the user identifier has the usage credits, and if the user identifier has the usage credits, exchanging the wireless signals, through the third user device, with the second user device and with the wireless communication network to provide the wireless communication service to the second user device, decrementing the usage credits in the second data structure for the user identifier, and wirelessly transferring second data structure updates.”
The prior art by Burcham is particularly beneficial to Mobile network operators to increase the paid usage of their data networks to monetize on their infrastructure investments. Burcham refers to paid usage as “usage credit”.
However Burcham does not resolve the shortcomings that this invention is specifically addressing to resolve, as described in the text and illustrated in drawings (figures) but specifically as protected novelty described in the Claims herein. As a matter of illustration, the following are a summary of the shortcomings that the prior by Burcham does not resolve. Burcham specifically has the following conditions or limitation explicitly required by “the method” and “the communication system”;                two different user devices (first user device and a third user device) to connect another user device (second user device),        three different data structures (first-, second-, master data structure), and                    a control server,                        wireless communication network,        first user device and third user device are registered users with usage credit for the wireless communication network's services        second user device identifiers accessing wireless communication service must have usage credit to access wireless communication network through first and third user device.        
Our invention resolves the shortcomings of Burcham, in that in our invention there is no such restriction of requiring 3 user devices for a data connection to one of them, in other words Burcham requires two different user devices (first user device and a third user device) to connect another user device (second user device), whereas our invention only requires any such two wireless devices referred to by Burcham as “user devices”.
Also Burcham requires three different data structures and a control server for the connection set-up whereas our invention does not require any such data structure nor any such server to set-up a data connection. Actually in our invention a server is optional to support additional optional features but is not required for the data connection from user devices to the communication system.
Another mayor restriction or condition of Burcham is that it requires user devices that wish to make use if its invention (as per Burcham second user device) to have “usage credit”, meaning to pay for the access to the services such as data or Internet access) of the wireless communication network to which the sharing user devices (as per Burcham first user device and third user device) are connected to. This last in itself is such a major restriction in that, although commercially beneficial to the owners of the wireless communications network such as Mobile network Operators, it limits the scope of the invention to a relatively fragmented and thus small market segment of the global 7.1 Billion mobile subscriber base simply because the huge amount of Mobile Networks Operators per country times the amount of countries. In the end the invention of Burcham does not benefit the global 7.1 Billion mobile subscribers because end users still have to pay in order to access the benefits of the invention of Burcham and thus why connect indirectly if there is no financial benefit or cost reduction to the end user. In the communications system of Burcham end users can just as well get a direct service contract or pre-pay contract directly with the wireless communication network.
In our invention there is no such requirement for any such wireless device end user to have any credit (referred to by Burcham as user device identifier usage credit) at all to make use of the benefits of our invention. In fact our invention relies on the basis that wireless device users that download our invention software module that has direct wireless data access to share Internet data connection with any other wireless device users that also downloaded our invention software module does not have direct wireless data access without such last needing any credit at all to connect to the Internet through the first device and without any interaction with any server for such Internet data connection.
Another different prior art, less successful in terms of the low amount of users compared to previous mentioned prior arts, extracted on 2 Feb. 2015 can be found on this Internet website at the URL opengarden.com where they mention: “5 Million users. Check out how we improve your connectivity”. On a different page within previous website, namely on opengarden.com/apps it states: “Open garden is a wireless mesh networking application . . . .”. At the URL opengarden.com/faq#faq-security-005 it states: “Since the Open Garden clients use VPN functionality to route traffic and it is not possible to run simultaneous VPNs on the operating systems we support, Open Garden cannot work when a VPN is running . . . .”. VPN stands for Virtual Private Network. At the URL opengarden.com/faq#faq-start-002 it states: “Assuming you already installed Open Garden on a nearby device, press “Connect” on one or both devices and wait. For the first time connection, Open Garden needs to learn about nearby devices and will do so using one of three methods: WLAN, when the devices are connected to the same Wi-Fi network; location services, when the devices are connected to separate networks; and BLUETOOTH, when one of the devices is without Internet access completely, in this situation you can manually pair devices with BLUETOOTH to force a connection over Open Garden . . . .”.
The shortcomings of Open Garden are numerous, but the main shortcomings are:                that the downloaded Open Garden software on a wireless device requires one or more nearby device users to manually click on the screen to force a connection the first time connection;        that when a nearby device has no Internet access at all then again such wireless device user has to manually pair the 2 or more nearby devices with the downloaded Open Garden software;        that Open Garden when downloaded into a wireless device requires such wireless device to route all shared data traffic through a VPN.        
Our invention does not have any of the previous mentioned limitations of Open Garden in that the our invention as described herein;                does not require any manual intervention of any of the wireless devices users with a downloaded software of this invention to allow Internet Access the first time;        does not require any manual intervention of any of the wireless devices users with a downloaded software of this invention to allow Internet Access the first time;        does not require any manual intervention to pair any of the wireless devices users with a downloaded software of this invention to allow Internet Access even if one of them has no direct Internet access at all;        does not require the use of a VPN in order to allow wireless devices users with a downloaded software of this invention to access the Internet through nearby wireless devices with a downloaded software of this invention;        does not have the restriction when one of the devices has no internet connection to use it the first time to be limited to connect to another device with internet through BLUETOOTH only, actually our invention is specifically targeted to wireless devices without internet connection and thus connect through wireless devices with internet connection through any available radio module by both wireless devices with a downloaded module of this invention.        
Our invention resolves all the prior art shortcomings because the wireless devices with a build-in software module as per this invention, is not limited to only paying users nor limited to the wireless devices that use a VPNs nor is any user interaction required to enable access the Internet through a neighbouring wireless devices with a build-in software module as per this invention, but rather our novelty allows Internet access to function for all wireless devices with no direct internet access provided they download the software module herein. By the sheer amount of wireless devices in any given place around the world our invention provides the best additional Internet access coverage for end-users in areas with high concentration of people, wherever that may be. This last is particularly illustrated because end users carry their wireless devices with them, that combined with the fact that there are currently around 5 times more wireless devices then landlines, according to gsgtelco.com (see further in SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION more details) by at least a ratio of 5.4B mobiles in use to 1.1B landlines=4.9 times up to 7.1B mobiles accounts to 1.1B landlines=6.4 times.
The following is a brief explanation of some of the industry terms used, as background information.
A Virtual Private Network (VPN) according to Wikipedia's website at the URL en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Virtualprivate network: “A VPN extends a private network across a public network, such as the Internet . . . . A VPN is created by establishing a virtual point-to-point connection through the use of dedicated connections, virtual tunneling protocols, or traffic encryptions . . . . One major limitation of traditional VPNs is that they are point-to-point, and do not tend to support or connect broadcast domains . . . . To prevent disclosure of private information, VPNs typically allow only authenticated remote access and make use of encryption techniques . . . . Mobile VPNs are used in a setting where an endpoint of the VPN is not fixed to a single IP address, but instead roams across various networks such as data networks from cellular carriers or between multiple Wi-Fi access points . . . . Instead of logically tying the endpoint of the network tunnel to the physical IP address, each tunnel is bound to a permanently associated IP address at the device.”
A Home Location Register (HLR) is a database that contains mobile subscriber information for all subscribers of a mobile network operator. It is owned and maintained by that mobile operator.
A Visitor Location Register (VLR) is a database of the roaming users authorized and connected to the mobile network, such VLR database also owned and maintained by a mobile operator. It contains temporary information about mobile subscribers that are currently located in a geographic area served by that mobile operator, but whose Home Location Register (HLR) is elsewhere from a different mobile network operator.
HLR subscriber information includes the International Mobile Subscriber Identity (IMSI), service subscription information, location information (the identity of the currently serving Visitor Location Register (VLR) to enable the routing of mobile-terminated calls), service restrictions and supplementary services information. The HLR also initiates transactions with VLRs to complete incoming calls and to update subscriber data.
The IMSI is a unique non-dialable number allocated to each mobile subscriber that identifies the subscriber and his or her operator subscription. The IMSI is stored in the Subscriber Identity Module (SIM). The IMSI is made up of three parts (1) the mobile country code (MCC) consisting of three digits, (2) the Mobile Network Code (MNC) consisting of two digits, and (3) the Mobile Subscriber Identity Number (MSIN) with up to 10 digits.
When a mobile subscriber roams away from his home location and into a remote location (typically to a different country), SS7 messages are used to obtain information about the subscriber from the HLR, and to create a temporary record for the subscriber in the VLR. There is usually one VLR per operator. The VLR automatically updates the HLR with the new location information, which it does using an SS7 Location Update Request Message. The Location Update Message is routed to the HLR through the SS7 network, based on the global title translation of the IMSI that is stored within the SCCP Called Party Address portion of the message. The HLR responds with a message that informs the VLR whether the subscriber should be provided service in the new location.
This last is critical to a mobile network operator's ability to restrict what end-users can do is the fact that operators control their own HLR, which can be thought of as the gateway into the mobile communications system, not only to make calls but also to connect to the Internet. Even ‘virtual mobile network operators’ (VMNOs) are in effect subservient to the mainstream network operators that manage the physical infrastructure because the VMNOs still need to access the HLRs or VLR of the traditional mobile network operators who have ownership of the actual radio interface to the wireless devices (smartphones and tablets) with a valid SIM.